This Week:

How many churches emphasize serving the poor as much as the Bible itself does? Would the world look the way it does if all believers followed these commands? Instead, the loudest christians today have infected our culture with the idea that capitalism = holiness, and the results of capitalism, no matter how brutal, is always moral.

"Stop serving your fellow man and open a business!"

They preach the gospel of commerce, that when jesus told us to serve our fellow man he didn’t mean to volunteer at a homeless shelter, or directly help someone who is down and out, no, what jeusus really meant was that we need to set up unregulated markets that concentrate wealth in the hands of a few, and let the help and aid trickle down to the widows and orphans.

Meet Bud Pilgrim, the leader of “Integrity Leadership” Christian ministry. He’s sick of all this talk about being “in service to your fellow man” bullshit. What he does is give chirstians excuses to be greedy and sleep soundly while ignoring the needs of the least among us, and we break down his message.

Our look at hypocrisy today: Newt Gingrich being caught by Wolf Blitzer in a double standard for criticism of U.S. presidents apologizing for atrocities committed by Americans against Muslim nations. Yes, you read it right, Newt got Caught in a cotradcitory double standard by WOLF BLITZER. Getting taken down by the corporate talking point repeater Wolf Blitzer is quite a feat, reminiscent of Sarah Palin getting exposed by that muckracker Katie Courick.

Frank Conniff: misogynist, hater, bully.

Sexist joke or crazy liberal over reaction? Frank joke about Rick Santorum’s daughter has caused quite a stir on the Best Of The Left show and we air some of

the criticism we received from the listeners and break them down. And yes, of course we make fun of them and use comedy to point out their flawed logic, contradictory thinking, and humorlessness.

Tueday’s with Moron is back and Moron finally tells us what happened to him and where he has been for the last few months. The Rush Limbaugh controversy hasn’t slipped past Moron and he wants to know if we are castigating Bill Maher like we are Rush. Plus we find out what Moron got Therese for Valentines Day, hint: it helps her clean the dryer!

Originating from KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, The Jimmy Dore Show is an irreverent and humorous take on today’s headlines and hypocrites. The program skewers politicians as well as the corporate mouthpieces which make up today’s mainstream “news media.” Each and every week, The Jimmy Dore Show provides the unvarnished truth with a twist of funny.

Let’s try a little left uplift here.
Despite his own proclamations of being a “Catholic” and being four-square for “capitalism,” I don’t see Jimmy as either.
If you believe that the poor are not complete assholes who deserve in their own filth and vomit, then you are not a “capitalist.” If you believe that some rules and regultaions might be needed to stop the relentless plunder of all things everywhere, then you are not a “capitalist.”

Likewise, if you like making a buck, and like buying some cool shit with your earned money, that does not make you a “capitalist.” You are something else, if you want others to live under a fairer system that allows them the chance to earn a buck or two. Unfortunately, you cannot call yourself a “socialist,” because then you want everybody to wear kuklaks and subsist on potato vodka and die early blubbering for Olga, at least in American eyes.
The idea of Frank having to “apologize” for a knowing joke that targets Rick Santorum is insane. Rick Santorum is an anti-sex fascist, deserving of every possible ounce of open ridicule that can be brought his way to expose the contemptible idiocy that he and his millions of clinically insane followers preach. If teenagers are of consensual age, why shouldn’t they “put out”? Speaking of impossible dreams of the 70s, I would have been so much happier if they had done so.

Let’s see – cheap bigotry against Southerners (despite the per capita incidence of hate crimes in Alabama are MUCH lower than the same in, oh, California Southerners *must* be racists, eight?); cracks about Irish and drinking; etc. Check!
You go on the simply assert that prosperity theology, a tiny group compared to Christianity as a whole, is dominant and that the majority of Christians don’t actually help the poor. This, of course, ignores the largest charity for the poor in the world, the Catholic Church. The Church feeds more hungry and helps more poor than any governmental group in the world and more than any other charity in the world.
But you knew that, right?
“Insulting Palin is OK because she is dumb, but Fluke isn’t”
that doesn’t follow; Fluke flat-out lied, so…?
“Comedians can say whatever they want, other people can’t”
Oh, the old Clown Nose on/Clown Nose off schtick – a leftist comedian is serious until what he says is offensive, but once it is offensive it is only comedy?
“Fluke (who is a paid activist who came to prominence at a Press release for the Democratic Party) is powerless, so it is bad to insult her, but it is OK for US to shame Santorum’s daughter because….”
Why, exactly?
Also, since a great deal of the complaints about Limbaugh is ‘oh, coarsening the discourse’, then Franks *cough* “joke” is – yes – the same since it is coarsening the discourse.
It again boils down to
“If liberals insult or shame women, it is humor and OK, but if conservatives do the same, it is unacceptable”.
Maher, who has a history of domestic violence and misogynistic remarks? Oh, he’s OK.
Limbaugh? Oh, so far out of bounds! It is nothing alike AT ALL!

Keep patting yourself on the back about how insulting women is OK because you are morally superior.

I love the idiot above who suggests that Frank has the same impact on the American political sphere as Rush Limbaugh (if only this were true). This kind of stuff is the reason no one can take conservatives seriously, their lies are so ridiculous that they are self-parodying.

Just to add on, even Bill Maher, who is light-years above Frank as far as impact, is nowhere near as important as Rush Limbaugh. But I hope everyone knows that all conservatives lie about everything all the time. That is not comedy, that is just a fact, conservatives are liars. Many people are confused because conservatives so often seem to throw out their allegedly precious ideology in service of relatively unimportant political ends. How can this be? Well, the answer is obvious. They are liars. They don’t care about their ideology; they just say anything that they think will win the debate. Need I point out that the right wing idiot above who is so enraged about the redneck jokes and the Bill Maher comments doesn’t care about the Limbaugh comments, which are much much worse? I thought not.

As to the content of the show, you guys make a humorous reference to the idea that volunteerism leads to socialism, but the truth is that the right wingers are right. Concern for your fellow man and the willingness to help people without compensation or with no hidden agenda (agenda like those of The Catholic Church, which only helps people to achieve its own ends) does in fact lead to socialism. Indeed, that is what socialism IS, the notion that people should take care of people just because they are people, this is the reason the right hates volunteerism, and kindness. If Christians really believed the ideology they claim to espouse, they would never allow a profit system to exist at all.

Also, you asked why we had a war instead of assassinating the people responsible for 9-11. There are a number of reasons, one, the people responsible for 9-11 died on 9-11. Osama had pretty well nothing to do with it, he was just a funnel for money and a propaganda guy, he was a leader of terrorists in our imagination. This, by the way, is the reason that W never killed him, that and because he was a useful source of Intel. The notion that we didn’t know he was hiding in Pakistan is laughable. Another reason is that wars are profitable; companies like Halliburton make a ton of money off wars, mostly by rebuilding, but also by selling weapons and providing services to the government. Another reason is war is the only answer the market has to the surplus value problem.

Aquinas Dad –
Not that your biased or anything, ya catholic apologizer… Look jacko, the catholic church has done wonders for poverty and the like worldwide but they have also cast a huge shadow of doubt about their so called morality that everyone should look to. My question is this: if the Catholics are who one should look to for religious guidance, than whose watching the catholics? After all, their just men capable of making huge mistakes and don’t use that BS talking point of they made a pact with God…please…. Also making a false equivalency about the work the catholic church has done worldwide to the US government whose jurisdiction really only covers the US is beyond ridiculous. You’re just pissed because your a flaming right wingnut who can’t accept the fact that all women hate you accept for the ones who allow you to put it in their ass while their tied up face down in a pillow. Fluke, a paid activist…seriously, that is your defense? Nowhere close to the kind of power Sarah Palin was given at the blink of an eye as a national VP Candidate! The McCain camp literally recruited her just after watching a Youtube clip.,…..a youtube clip!!!! No wonder that party is a god damn mess… Santorum is shaming his daughter already, blame him!!! PS – You were born cursed with the gift of unfunny. Nuance and irony are terms that are foreign to you. I wish you luck understanding anything for the rest of your life.

Trent,
I drew no ‘false equivalence’ – Mr. Dore implied that the largest impact of Christianity is the tiny and inane prosperity theology movement and I was just pointing out that Christian charities overwhelm the effects of even governments, making is point at best moot. I am unsure what the rest of your rambling incoherence was about, so I am unsure how to respond.

Mr. Dore,
I am not angry, just nonplussed by yet another string of slurs, racism and insults from a Liberal explaining that when a Liberal does it, its ‘humor and commentary’. Oh, and who refuses to address simple points directly.

Mr. Dore,
Once again, bigotry instead of a response. The Orange Duke and Trent? The Orange Duke’s only semi-coherent claim is that Frank insulting a woman is acceptable because he isn’t famous enough. By that logic sexual harassment/discrimination is only possible if the man is more famous than a relatively well-known TV personality/comedian/writer, doesn’t it? And Trent (through the lousy spelling and grammar, ad hominems and insults toward women) seems to be claiming that Fluke isn’t a paid activist (which, of course, she *is*), that Fluke can lie because Palin something something, and, of course, that all of the charity work of Catholic Charities – something.
Is this the best you can do, Jimmy?

I thought it would have been funny if when Frank was saying yes you shouldn’t make fun of the kids and he would never make fun of Obama’s daughters if he had added, “and they put out all the time too”.

“cheap bigotry against Southerners (despite the per capita incidence of hate crimes in Alabama are MUCH lower than the same in, oh, California Southerners *must* be racists, eight?”

Very selective/inadequate criteria. 1 not all states have all the same hate crime laws. 2 the level of racism of the police or prosecutor can have a huge effect, as an obvious and current example Zimmerman wasn’t even arrested in Florida for killing Martin, in another state he may have been charged with a hate crime (after being arrested for murder).

“The Church feeds more hungry and helps more poor than any governmental group in the world and more than any other charity in the world.”

Counting all governments combined (as you are counting Catholics everywhere) government programs help more people through assistance, food stamps, life saving medical treatment (medicare for seniors, full healthcare in other countries).

“Insulting Palin is OK because she is dumb, but Fluke isn’t”
that doesn’t follow; Fluke flat-out lied, so…?

Fluke flat out lied, so she IS dumb is what you are saying? Anyways Limbaugh didn’t call Fluke stupid, he attacked her for being a sexual woman, the majority of women are sexual (or may choose to be sexual) but in attacking a particular woman (e.g. Palin) for being stupid you are not automatically attacking women (lame joke aside), just like if you attack a particular man for being stupid (e.g. Bill Maher if you’d like) you are not necessarily attacking men.

Consider the following 2 verbal attacks I might make to someone named Mike,

“Mike you are rude and you stink (and you are stupid).

“Mike you walk around here prancing around being gross and flamboyant, you gay.”

The first is attacking that person the second is attacking a group.

“Fluke flat-out lied”

What was her lie? Please quote her lying and then what the truth is.

“a leftist comedian is serious until what he says is offensive, but once it is offensive it is only comedy?”

It’s not “only comedy” it’s comedy and everything else, jk. Whether serious or joking the relevant part is what is the point. The point of Frank’s was not in fact to assert that Santorum’s daughter should be ashamed of being sexual or a “slut”.

“but it is OK for US to shame Santorum’s daughter”
the point of Frank’s joke was the opposite to this as can be understood from the discussion that followed of how Santorum’s political views are exactly the ones that would be shaming his daughter.

If we are going to play the game of pretending not to understand this then lets take the pretense one level further and say the people that are saying that Frank was insulting her are in fact shaming women for “putting out” and being sluts by assuming it is a bad thing, Frank was making a neutral comment, like saying and I hear she reads a lot. He was saying, “I hear she puts out (liberated sexual interaction and mutual fulfillment) to many (respectful, similarly minded and feminist) guys”.

“since a great deal of the complaints about Limbaugh is ‘oh, coarsening the discourse”

I wouldn’t say for “coarsening the discourse” I would say for an attempt to promote policies that harm women and in this particular case a sustained verbal attack that attempts to shame women for sexuality.

Love the show; insane claims on volunteerism were fantastic. Just a minor correction: the claim that Al Qaeda has been wiped out is not quite true: Zwahiri is still alive. But the fact remains correct that the occupation at this point is no longer needed. The only danger that Afghanistan poses is the way that opium trade enables Talibani. That needs to be addressed, but not with “boots on the ground”…

Jimmy,
Your reply is neither pertinent nor funny. You referenced a quote as something supporting your point, I pointed out the post was factually incorrect, and – well, I have no idea what this was meant to say, other than you can’t follow a conservation when it is written down.

loser,
Look at federal crime statistics, please – they are uniform through out the country and clearly demonstrate that there are far more per capita hate crimes based on race AND sexual orientation in norhtern ‘blue states’ than in the South.
I was speaking of specific groups or nations, as you quoted. Further, this is because Jimmy claimed ‘Christians are more interested in getting rich than in helping the poor’, remember?
No, I am saying that *for some reason* Dore and others like him ignore or even applaud attacks on conservative women then bend over backwards to explain why similar attacks on liberal women are just so, so terrible.
You said “The first is attacking that person the second is attacking a group”
You mean like when Jimmy’s used bigotry against Irish and Southerners? Like that, you mean? Are you calling out Dore for those comments, or only Limbaugh? Because that, loser, is my point – a seeming double standard.
Here is one of Fluke’s lies – she claimed that Georgetown’s insurance doesn’t cover birth control pills prescribed for cysts. This is not true as has been confirmed by other students under the plan and by an analysis of the underwriter reports for the last several years. Annual costs of BC pills were also quite, quite high although that is something less easily proven to be false.
loser, are you trying to claim that it is OK for Frank to insult Santorum’s daughter because of her father’s politics? As a social conservative is it therefore OK for me to insult, oh, Obama’s daughters because in my opinion their father’s politics are shameful? *I* don’t think so. Further, Limbaugh had a lot of discussion before and after HIS comment explaining the political dimensions and points of HIS point – does that excuse him?
PS – I love the attempt to shy away from the fact that Frank was *obviously* referring to sexual promiscuity as shameful. Is this like when liberals counter-protesting Catholics call us ‘faggots’ as an insult, but it is OK because of the fact that a liberal said it, and liberals aren’t bigots, so using faggot as a slur can’t be a slur because liberal? Because I have been getting a lot of that here, too.
Also, I LOVE how Maher, infamous for using offensive language against women, with at least one lawsuit in his past about domestic violence and racial slurs, is OK by you because – he’s liberal.
So, if words and slurs ‘don’t harm women’, what is the hullaballo about what Limbaugh said? Oh, that’s right: only Liberals can insult groups of people because liberal. Got it.
What is MY reaction to what Limbaugh said? I was upset for a number of reasons, the two prominent being. I don’t like blanket insults and it was a further buy-in to the misdirection – the debate isn’t about birth control, it is about religious freedom.

I’m going to leave my reply in several comments because it is too long.

I will check out the federal hate crime stats, but that doesn’t change that that is still an inadequate criteria that can easily be muddied by other factors. As Jimmy said would the police have arrested Martin if the situation was reversed? The prejudices in a society affect law enforcement as well.

From the Southern Poverty Law Center (about hate crimes):

“The FBI statistics, which are simply compilations of state statistics as mandated by federal law, are notoriously sketchy. Because of a variety of problems in the voluntary reporting system, including the failure of many victims to report crimes to police, the FBI figures have long been suspected of being far lower than the actual level of such crimes.”

“California, which does a BETTER job of REPORTING hate crimes than most states (emphasis mine), has also seen a major uptick in anti-Latino violence, and the growth of hate groups has been most dramatic in Southern border states like California, Arizona and Texas, the front lines of the immigration controversy.”

There are many other ways to try to measure racism and racist views. Also that clearly isn’t saying that all Southeners are racist, but it is possible that as a proportion more people in the south hold racist views. A recent poll (possibly very flawed I haven’t looked into it) found 29% of republicans in Mississippi think interracial marriage should be illegal. If this has any relation to actual beliefs then that would be a portion of people who still hold racist beliefs.

“Jimmy claimed ‘Christians are more interested in getting rich than in helping the poor’, remember?”

I think he is talking about certain Christian leaders (some of whom may have large followings) whose clips he has played (where they are making those kinds of statements).

“You mean like when Jimmy’s used bigotry against Irish and Southerners?”

Can you name one current day (within the last generation) instance where an Irish person or Southerner has been prevented from pursuing anything because they were Irish or Southern. (To clarify, e.g. a gay person cannot get married, black names on job applications have been shown to get passed up vs white, attempts are made to limit women’s access to healthcare (new bills allowing Drs to lie to women if it might prevent an abortion).

You may dismiss that power is relevant, but Irish and Southerners do not in general face real discrimination that affects their pursuits or health in actual ways.

“Here is one of Fluke’s lies – she claimed that Georgetown’s insurance doesn’t cover birth control pills prescribed for cysts”

No she didn’t.

I am quoting Sandra Fluke’s testimony,

“I attend a Jesuit law school that does not provide contraception coverage in student health plans.”

Can you provide sources that show this is not true.
Georgetown’s health plans provide contraceptive coverage to faculty but not to students.

Also from her testimony,

“I’m also a past president of Georgetown Law Students for Reproductive Justice or LSRJ”

With all her pains to hide secret activism, she really leaves clues around willy nilly that show she has been involved in and cares about this issue.

“are you trying to claim that it is OK for Frank to insult Santorum’s daughter because of her father’s politics?”

No it is not an insult on her, it is sarcastically parroting the other side’s position e.g. let’s say liberals hate capitalism, it would be like a republican saying about Obama’s daughter sarcastically, “She’s already a filthy capitalist, I bet he yelled at her when she wanted to start a lemonade stand.” Saying she puts out is Frank sarcastically parroting sexual shaming of the rightwing.

“I love the attempt to shy away from the fact that Frank was *obviously* referring to sexual promiscuity as shameful.”

He was referring to the belief (that right wingers have) that sexual promiscuity is shameful. I have heard Fox hosts jokingly refer to someone as a capitalist pig, this is not them shaming capitalism this is them sarcastically referencing (their belief) that liberals hate capitalism.

“Limbaugh had a lot of discussion before and after HIS comment”

Was any of his discussion condemning sexual shaming. I didn’t say ANY discussion excuses anything, can you quote anything Limbaugh “discussed” right before or after his Fluke rant that would imply he thinks sexual shaming is not okay.

“Is this like when liberals counter-protesting Catholics call us ‘faggots’ as an insult, but it is OK because of the fact that a liberal said it, and liberals aren’t bigots, so using faggot as a slur can’t be a slur because liberal?”

Yes it is like that. When they are calling you faggots it is not because they think being gay is bad. When someone who has homophobic beliefs calls someone a faggot they are insulting them for being gay, when someone calls a homophobe a faggot they are trying to insult them for their homophobia.

“when liberals counter-protesting Catholics…”

I have a feeling this COUNTER protesting was at events where Catholics were protesting against gay rights, in these cases calling the protesters faggots is clearly meant to be insulting them for their homophobia.

“Also, I LOVE how Maher…is OK by you because – he’s liberal”

Maher’s not okay by me. But are you saying that Maher and Limbaugh are literally the same level of misogynistic and hateful towards women? Are you saying that Maher does advocate policies that are harmful to women as well as Limbaugh? I find Maher misogynistic, I find Limbaugh much more so. Limbaugh is against women’s very attempt to fight for equality, he calls feminists feminazis, Bill Maher thinks he’s smart when he pompously restates some stereotype about women crying for sympathy. These are not the same.

“I LOVE how Maher, infamous for using offensive language against women”

Again it is not just any offensive language it is what you are saying. If I called a particular woman a piece of shit this is offensive but not automatically sexist, if I called her a slut, or “just another place to put my dick” this begins to go down the road of misogynistic.

You are purposely trying not to understand things but I am a loser on the internet who felt like answering your comments.

Aquinas Dad doesn’t understand the fact that the Catholic Church pays no taxes to the US Government, hence they don’t have a horse in the contraception debate and should keep their silly mouthes shut. Religion in all its forms should never supercede a Democratic government. The idea that contraception is an attack on religion is garbage. Catholic Church being forced to compromise on their beliefs is like saying the sky is actually falling, they’ve been saying this nonsense for millenia and to date, the world hasn’t ended due to the “ULTRA liberal” policies of the Catholic Church. They get to participate tax free in the US econonomy (like most corporations…ahem). What a GRAND bargain! Contraception is neither liberal or conservative. It’s about safety and health in a 21st century world and as humans we should be taking full advantage of something positive and if an entity is unwilling to come along for the ride, than I suggest that they quit participating in the US economy. That will never happen because the Catholic church will never let those means of income go. Sorry die hard catholics/evangelicals, can’t control women in the US and not participate in the tax code. To do both, is fascism. The government giving you the option is neither forcing you to use it or not use it – freedom of choice by the individual. Just what a freedom hating fascist catholic and or evangelical loathes….choices, because that is when the devil creeps in: which is code for certain moronic males will not have the ability to oppress women sexually as easily.

Great posts! And as annoying as they are, guys like Aquinas are the true inspiration for “Tuesday’s with Moron”. I could use Aquinias’ words almost verbatim for the next Moron sketch. So think of it like that: If it weren’t for broken brained guys like Aquinas, we wouldn’t have “Moron” to call in.

Fairly amusing that he attempts to disprove my contention that conservatives just lie all the time by lying. Brilliant! But it will convince the drunk idiots at his local bar. For a conservtive, that is all that matters. That and lying.

On the subject of hate crimes, I’ve lived in LA all my life and been to the south once, for two days. Not surprisingly, I was called out into the street in the middle of the night and threatened with violence for being a Jew lover. The guy I was visiting was receiving death threats from his neighbors because he mentioned that his dad was Jewish. Which made him the Jew that I loved, even though he was an agnostic raised Catholic, I love the South.

Well, I didn’t come back by until someone suggested I should and, well,….
Wow.
Loser; so ‘It is OK when people like ME use gender and ethnic slurs because we are being IRONIC’ isn’t a rational statement, it is simply a desire to paint yourself as above blame, which, of course, you aren’t. If X person using ‘faggot’ as a slur, then it is also wrong for Y person, the end.
And shy is it OK for a liberal to slur women? Why, because he is liberal!’ is similarly nothing more or less than a double-standard. Bill Maher is a misogynist who speaks about and treats women badly – supporting abortion doesn’t change that!

Trent,
The law says the government cannot force relious groups, institutions, or people to violate their beliefs. Despite your statements, the Church is NOT trying to block access to, ban, blah, blah, blah contraception, they just refuse to pay for it because
[wait for it]
it violates their religion. The horse in the race is ‘the federal government is trying to force a religious institution violate its beliefs in direct contradiction of the 1st Amendment’.

Jimmy,
I would love to be on your show! I would only ask that an unedited version of our interaction was available either online or to me. I have done a fair amount of radio work and tend to get asked back for various reasons.
Hell, I dare ya’